In the past, when a strip component was conveyed by a conveyor, the conveyor system either did not guide the component to align it with the conveyor, or the conveyor system had guides that kept the component aligned with the conveyor. If the component was not guided, it was possible that the component would not be aligned with the conveyor when the component reached its destination. If physical guides such as side guide rails were used, the sides of the component were subject to damage due to contact with the guide rails.
Although guiding a strip component carried by a conveyor is not the same as guiding a belt, a belt roller, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,696 to Thurston, utilized an assembly of angled disks rotatably mounted on a rotatable shaft to maintain the position of a belt. When the shaft was rotated, the angle of engagement of the disks with the belt surface was changed. One embodiment of the invention used a sensing device to measure belt displacement. However, the problem was that this assembly of angled disks was unable to provide an instantaneous lateral adjustment. Lateral movement of the assembly was not necessary because the belt was wrapped around a significant portion of the disks which allowed more contact time with the belt to steer the belt. In a conveyor system for strip components, such an apparatus would contact the strip component to be guided along a small portion of each disk, thereby reducing the contact time for guiding and seriously limit the steering capability of the system.
In most other guiding systems the sheet or strip to be guided was required to be in web tension which is not desirable especially with extruded unreinforced sheets or strips of elastomeric material used in the manufacture of tires. Guidance systems also required extensive space consuming equipment whereas in tire building equipment space is limited.
Applicants recognized the need for a steering apparatus that could provide an instantaneous shifting adjustment as well as a prolonged steering action without using guide rails that could damage the strip component being conveyed.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved guiding system which is compact, simple in design, effective in use, and solves the problem by overcoming the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.